$20 million new gift from John and Jody Arnhold for continued growth and scholarships for Jazz
The Juilliard School announces $20 million in gifts from the Arnhold Foundation in recognition of two outstanding areas of the school, Creative Enterprise and Juilliard Jazz.
John and Jody Arnhold have made a $5 million endowment gift to Juilliard Jazz. The gift will provide vital resources for scholarships and the department’s ongoing performance activity, renowned faculty, and robust curricular offerings, ensuring the program’s preeminence in the field for generations to come. This gift, the largest ever received by Juilliard for the jazz program, celebrates the leadership of its director, Wynton Marsalis.
Additionally, the Arnholds have made $15 million in gifts to Juilliard’s Creative Enterprise programming. They began generously supporting Creative Enterprise when President Damian Woetzel launched the program, a major priority for the institution, at the start of his presidency, in 2018.
The Arnholds’ contributions support activities for Juilliard students, faculty, and an expanding roster of resident artists, renaming the Creative Associates to Arnhold Creative Associates.
Creative Enterprise offers a new approach to interdisciplinary work that is unique among conservatories. This year, Creative Enterprise work can be seen in action starting on September 12, at the school’s inaugural Fall Festival.
“We are grateful for this generous gift from John and Jody Arnhold to Creative Enterprise and Juilliard Jazz,” President Damian Woetzel said. “Their support is a powerful acknowledgement of the innovative excellence of these programs and will provide resources for artistic development and affordability for our talented students from around the world. Juilliard’s inaugural Fall Festival exemplifies the impact of this major gift, as we kick off the 2024 performance season with world premieres, interdisciplinary programs, and participatory events that bring the arts to life for all.”
“We are deeply committed to nurturing young artists and fostering creative excellence to shape the future of the performing arts, and this gift ensures that Juilliard Jazz and Creative Enterprise continue to set the standard for what is possible for generations to come,” the Arnholds said.
“Our support underscores our belief in the power of music, dance, and drama to transform lives, and we are pleased to support the outstanding work of Wynton Marsalis and the extraordinary jazz faculty. It also reflects our unparalleled admiration for President Woetzel’s innovative leadership to push artistic boundaries, inspire new ways of thinking, and create interdisciplinary opportunities for future artists. We are excited to witness the creativity emerging through Creative Enterprise, starting with the Fall Festival this September.”
Trumpeter, alum, and composer Wynton Marsalis—who helped envision Juilliard’s jazz program in advance of its inception in 2002—has directed the program since 2014. Today, Juilliard Jazz is the preeminent college jazz program in the country. Scholarships are available to ensure that talented young artists from all financial backgrounds who wish to expand their technique and studies in jazz have access to this innovative program. It combines rigorous education in the history and traditions of jazz with unmatchable performance opportunities in New York City designed to integrate students into a thriving jazz environment.
Students work closely with a dedicated faculty made up of some of today’s most renowned jazz artists and enjoy numerous performance opportunities with the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and smaller ensembles not only at the school and around New York City but also in prominent venues and festivals nationally and beyond. Jazz alums are leaders in the field, among them Jon Batiste (also a Juilliard trustee), Endea Owens, Samora Pinderhughes, and Immanuel Wilkins.
Juilliard Jazz is committed to developing exceptional musicians versed in all styles of jazz and American roots music. Its unique vision for jazz education begins with building a supportive community of the best young musicians under the tutelage of an incomparable faculty, guest teachers, and staff, and it programs a diverse range of music from early jazz styles to students’ compositions for them to study, arrange, and perform.
Beyond greatly impacting the growth of Creative Enterprise, Creative Associates, and Juilliard Jazz, the Arnholds’ support has enhanced classroom and performance work throughout the school and sponsored special guests and projects in dance and drama. Creative Enterprise support was instrumental in launching the Drama Division’s professional film curriculum component for fourth-year actors.
Members of the Arnhold family are longtime donors to Juilliard, reaching back to Henry Arnhold’s support of the graduate resident string quartet beginning in 1991. The family’s generosity continued with Jody and John’s investment in Creative Enterprise when Damian Woetzel became president of the school and launched the program in 2018.
Creative Enterprise was launched as a schoolwide initiative in 2018 by President Damian Woetzel to expand opportunities for students to engage in creative interdisciplinary work, leveraging Juilliard’s unique range of study—music, dance, and drama side-by-side in the same institution—as they prepare for careers in the arts. Since then, the program has energized students and the Juilliard community in deepening the practice of interdisciplinary work. Programs are offered in a classroom or workshop settings; public presentations are designed for both in-person and virtual audiences.
Notable public projects include:
The popular film Bolero Juilliard, presented during the height of the pandemic
Alum Nathalie Joachim’s staged album Ki moun ou ye
Two residencies at Chelsea Factory, and tours to perform in the California Festival and at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C.
Claiming Your Space: A Celebration of Black Music at Juilliard with Denyce Graves, commemorating the 90th anniversary of a groundbreaking concert at Juilliard of music by Black composers performed by Black musicians and led by Harry T. Burleigh
Earth Month programs including Ellen Reid SOUNDWALK Lincoln Center and Central Park, a location-based sound art installation commissioned by Juilliard; and the New York premiere of John Luther Adams’ Crossing Open Ground, presented with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and co-directed by Arnhold Creative Associate at Large Nadia Sirota, Douglas Perkins, and Arnhold Creative Associate Pam Tanowitz.
The Arnhold Creative Associates are an expanding group of artists in residence whose work exemplifies collaborative and interdisciplinary innovation. Selected by a committee made up of artistic leadership and the Office of the President, each Creative Associate spends time at the school and engages with the community and fellow associates through workshops, performances, coachings, public discussions, and special projects.
Arnhold Creative Associates whose work will be featured during the 2024-25 season include alum Matthew Aucoin, alum Nicholas Britell, Claire Chase, Kurt Crowley, Jennifer Koh, alum Jessie Montgomery, Caili Quan, Caroline Shaw, and Pam Tanowitz. Alum Nadia Sirota serves as the Arnhold Creative Associate at Large, curating Creative Enterprise initiatives, teaching classes, and coaching chamber music. Additional Arnhold Creative Associates include alum and trustee Jon Batiste, Lil Buck, Colman Domingo, Michelle Dorrance, Rhiannon Giddens, Rennie Harris, Bill Irwin, alum Nathalie Joachim, Raja Feather Kelly, Jamar Roberts, Joshua Roman, and alum Conrad Tao.
Creative Enterprise also presents projects to the school’s community. These include The Film Scoring Lecture Series with Succession composer and alum Nicholas Britell, and the Who’s in the Lobby? series, which has featured Arnhold Creative Associates and other guest artists. One recent Who’s in the Lobby? performer was violinist Hilary Hahn who performed with music students and dancers; past guests include alums Kris Bowers and Yo-Yo Ma, the Silkroad ensemble, and Aparna Ramaswamy.
Since 2001, Juilliard Jazz has developed exceptional musicians versed in the jazz continuum. Through improvisation, swing, and the blues aesthetic, the program aims to cultivate individuality, community, and the depth of feeling and generosity of spirit known as soul. Originally conceived as a collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center, Juilliard Jazz continues today in close partnership with the wider jazz landscape under the direction of trumpet player and alum Wynton Marsalis since 2014, who also serves as managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Known for its rigor and innovation, Juilliard Jazz has become a leader of jazz education nationally. The pedagogy and curriculum are designed to empower each student to realize their highest potential as people, artists, and community members. At Juilliard, jazz students are first and foremost trained to move others with their sound and presence by developing and articulating original, meaningful stories about the human condition rooted in this American vernacular.
Juilliard enrolls approximately 50 jazz students each year and offers the following degree programs: Bachelor of Music, undergraduate diploma, Master of Music, Graduate Diploma, and Artist Diploma. Areas of study include double bass, drums, guitar, piano, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, vibraphone, and voice. During their first year, all jazz students are asked to articulate a personal mission statement, which they revise on a yearly basis. Throughout their studies at Juilliard, students are guided by their missions in their classes, lessons, and performances.
Led Marsalis and Aaron Flagg, associate director and also a Juilliard alum, the 35-member jazz faculty includes gifted professionals accomplished as performers, educators, and mentors. Among the instructors are Ron Blake (saxophone), Jerome Jennings (resident conductor of the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra), Joe Magnarelli (trumpet), Elliot Mason (trombone), Ted Rosenthal (piano), and Charenée Wade (voice). The jazz faculty is empowered to teach beyond the notes and the rhythms and is encouraged to direct the students to develop and reach their personal and artistic goals.
All jazz students are afforded a plethora of performance opportunities each year as members of the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and program’s five ensembles. They perform on campus and in venues across New York City, including Dizzy’s Club and the Blue Note. The Juilliard Jazz Orchestra enjoys an annual weeklong residency at Jazz at Lincoln Center; guest artists have included Ernie Andrews, Kenny Barron, Tom Harrell, Sean Jones, Lew Tabackin, Bobby Watson, and Gerald Wilson. Ensembles have performed at the Detroit Jazz and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festivals and have toured to Costa Rica, Colombia, Japan, and Brazil.
Founded in 1905, The Juilliard School is a world leader in performing arts education. The school’s mission is to provide the highest caliber of artistic education for gifted musicians, dancers, and actors, composers, choreographers, and playwrights from around the world so that they may achieve their fullest potential as artists, leaders, and global citizens. Juilliard is led by Damian Woetzel, seventh president of the school, who has prioritized affordability and access to the highest level of artistic education while championing Juilliard’s tradition of excellence.
Located at Lincoln Center in New York City, Juilliard offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, drama (acting and playwriting), and music (classical, jazz, historical performance, and vocal arts). More than 800 artists from 42 states and 50 countries and regions are enrolled in Juilliard’s College Division, where they appear in more than 800 annual performances in the school’s five theaters; at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and David Geffen halls and at Carnegie Hall; as well as at other venues around New York City, the U.S., and the world.
The continuum of learning at Juilliard also includes nearly 400 students from elementary through high school enrolled in the Preparatory Division—Pre-College and Music Advancement Program (MAP); MAP serves students from diverse backgrounds often underrepresented in the classical music field. More than 1,200 students are enrolled in Juilliard Extension, the flagship continuing education program taught both in person and remotely by a dedicated faculty of performers, creators, and scholars. Beyond its New York campus, Juilliard is defining new directions in performing arts education for a range of learners and enthusiasts through a global K-12 educational curricula and preparatory and graduate studies at The Tianjin Juilliard School in China.